Randolph-Henry High School’s varsity baseball team was represented among the 2019 All-James River District (JRD) baseball honors by four selections, all of which were on the first team.

Leading the list of honored Statesmen was senior Skylar Lacks, who received two first-team selections — one as a pitcher and one at shortstop. Junior Colby Jordan made the cut as a pitcher, and junior Winfield Layne made it as a designated hitter (DH).

“I thought that all four recipients were well-deserving of this honor,” Randolph-Henry Head Coach Joshua Barmoy said. “In the James River District, it was tight throughout the entire season. There was not a clear cut No. 1 team until the last couple of regular season games. As a result, there was a lot of talent mixed around throughout our league. We had a couple guys that did not receive honors, like A.J. Leach and Matthew Harding, that were also mentioned in our meeting (for) having a productive season. Overall, I am pleased with our representation, and for those that did not receive an award, I hope this can serve as motivation to improve for next season.”

The Statesmen finished second in the district, with a 13-3 JRD record. Their only losses came in close contests against Goochland High School, the No. 1 team, and Amelia County High School, the No. 3 team.

This was Lacks’ second year to make the all-district first team.

“Skylar had the second-best ERA (0.875) in the league only to his teammate, Colby Jordan (0.766),” Barmoy said. “You have to also take into consideration that Skylar pitched all of our big games in district play — Goochland twice, Prince Edward once and Amelia once.”

The coach noted that Lacks had 46 strikeouts in 36 innings of work in district play. He also threw a no-hitter at Golubic Stadium against Nottoway High School on March 28.

“Skylar has an electric arm on the mound, and I am sure his talent to go along with his stats proved to the other coaches in the district that he was deserving of this honor,” Barmoy said.

Lacks was strong at the shortstop position as well, the coach cited. He had one double play, 25 assists and 30 putouts, while only producing three errors the entire season on 58 attempts.

“Skylar was the leader of our infield,” Barmoy said. “He was continuously talking with others to make sure everything ran smoothly.”

“At the plate, Skylar batted a respective .448 throughout the entire regular season,” the coach continued. “He produced 26 hits, with six doubles, three triples, one home run and 16 RBIs, out of the third spot in the batting order. All of this while only striking out three times! Skylar was a tough out, and other teams had to pitch to him carefully throughout the year.”

Jordan made the all-district first team this season in his first year on the varsity squad.

“Colby had a league-leading ERA of 0.766 throughout the entire regular season,” Barmoy said. “He threw 45 2/3 innings with 64 strikeouts. Colby was a guy that threw a ton of strikes, which forced his opponents to put the ball in play.”

The coach said that Jordan recorded many contact outs and was able to keep other teams off the base paths.

“Colby knows how to execute his pitches in all accounts, which kept hitters guessing,” Barmoy said. “With little emotion shown on the mound, Colby battles each time he toes the rubber, and we look forward to having him back next year.”

Jordan recorded three complete-game shutouts this year.

Layne batted .448 this season, with two doubles and nine RBIs, out of the fifth spot in the batting order, Barmoy stated. Layne also registered a .586 slugging percentage.

“Winfield was a late bloomer for the Statesmen this season,” the coach said. “He earned the DH role on April 1 and finished the regular season strong, collecting 13 hits in 10 games. To qualify for this honor, one must play in at least half of the season at the DH position. In those 10 games, Winfield was productive at the plate as most of his outs were productive in scoring runs or moving runners over. He generated so much needed power from the middle of our lineup down the stretch of the regular season.”